Refuse guide for street sweepers



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' E R MARTIN REFUSE GUIDE FOR STREET SWEEPERS- F LED Nov 'Hull/714 titille nti/rire n. MARTIN, or nrcan, rnnrnors, assienoia To Eltern STREET swnnrnla co.,

OF`ELGIN,ILLI`NOIS, A CClllaR'lllilERSHIE?` CONSISTING Ol? CHARLES A. WRITING,

'JAMES TODD, AND 'DANIEL lVI. TODD.

anrusn suine non STREET SWEnrnias.

application id November 2a, ieee'. serial nd. 426,913.

To @ZZ whom may concern:

ile it known that l, Emma lt. hlan'rm,

citizen oiE the United States, residing; at

`Elgin, in the county of Kane and Sta-te of illinois, have invented certain new and useitul lmprovements in a Refuse Guide for Street Sweepers; and l do hereby declare the following` to be `a full, clear, and exact description ot the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it j appertains to` make and use the saine.

i which substantially forms an extension ot tion of damage to the machine therefore My invention relates to street sweeping;

` machines ot the general class in which the refuse ,is swept oil"` thestreet by a rotatingl broom and is then carried by a conveyer to a suitable hopper. lith such machines, it is not practical to have either the conveyer orthe conveyer casing extend down to the surface ot the street, hence it has been customary to provide a drag flap or dirt pan the conveyer casing towards the sweeping broom and which guides the swept retfusel towards the conveyer. Such dirt pans as commonly employed slope down rearwardly oi the machine towards thesweeping brush and have been `found open to three serious objections: f

The first is that such a drag pan mustbe lifted before the driver oit' the machine can back the latter without jamming the` pan `into the surface of the street and therefore risking serious damage, so that, the machine cannot be manipulated as freely as is otten desirable on crowded streets. The prevendepends on the care exercised in the above respect by the. driver, and even a careful ddriver may not be able to prevent the same if themachine Slips backward when halted y on an upward slope.

' In the Second place, stones, bricks orvother heavy objects of az size and weight not i readily handled by the machine are apt to `raise theiflap or dirt pan unduly, thereby causing the` broom to project refuse with considerable violence forwardly ofthe ma- "chine under thisp-an, or in other words, i spoiling the proper control oi the directing;

'heavy that of the refuse towards the conveyer.` i

`In the third place, the thickness of metal requiredv to insure goodwearing qualities insuch a. draflap or dirt an makes this so Fig. l.

` jects like papers or fallenl leaves.` Consequently, in the autumn season, the dragging dirt pan will slide the fallen leaves in front ot it until they are tightly packed under` this pan and jam the pan against the broom, so that the broom will only project these leaves `iturther forward along` the Street` under the pan instead of directing them towards the conveyer. y p

` My present invention aims to overcome all i of the above named objections byproviding` asubstitute "for the customary drag flap or dirt pan, which substitute refuse guide will permit a backing oit the machine without` a risk ot damaging` any part ot either machine or the street; which substitute will also ride l'reely over fallen leaves or the like, and which will automatically guide bricks or stones out of its path so as to prevent the latter `from interfering with the normal op-` eration `of the machine.` `Furthermore, my

invention aims to provide this substitute part in a form which will not easily. `be

"damaged and which will preventthe pres` While m invention may be applied with substantial y equal facility to street sweep- `ing` machines diil'ering` considerably in their construction, it is particularly "applicable to machines of the type disclosed in U. S. Patent No. 1239293 issued September 4, 1917 to J. Mi Murphy. l amtherefore illustratingand` describing,- my invention in an i embodimentsuitable for the machine of this patent, althoughil do not wish to be limited to this particular application of my inven' tion. i d H ln the drawings, Fig, shows portions of the street sweeper including,` the main brush or brneml which is -inountedQn'a'continuf.,.

street according as yriations in the street ally rotating shaft 2 and which directs the sweepings forwardly of the machine and towards the lower end of an inclined conveyer mechanism. This conveyer mechanism includes'a continuously moving conveyer belt 3 arranged for lifting and conveying the refuse to the usual hopper of such a machine. 'This belt has its lower and rear end disposed in the path in which the broom projects the refuse ofi the street, and also disposed above the bottom of a casing 4., which bottom prevents the :refuse from. dropping below the conveyer to the street. To clear stones or other objects on the street, it is customary to have the bottom of the casing which houses the conveyer spaced somewhat from the street, and it is therefore necessar f to guard against having a part of the loosened refuse swept by the broom forwardly ofthe machine under the bottom of this casing. To avoid the heretofore recited objections to the use of drag flaps or lia-t dirt pans for such a purpose, I substitute a guard or refuse guide in the form of a roller 5, which is here shown as consisting of a steel tube mounted on heads 6 which have a shaft 7 extendingy through the same. rihis shaft is journaled in a pair of brackets 8, each of which brackets slopes up and forwardly of the machine and is connected at its upper end through a pivot pin 9 to the adjacent side plate l0 of the casing which houses the conveyer. The roll 5 is desirably larger in diameter than the. distance between the sun face of the street and the bottom 4 of the conveyer casing, and also is desirably disposed rearwardly of this bottom, so that it partly underhangs the brooml and hence effectively closes the opening below the conveyer casing to prevent the forward projection of refuse through this opening by the broom of the machine.

Vith the parts thus arranged, it will he evident that the inclined portions of the bracket 8k form links which will pull the roller along with the machine while pei-mit! ting the roller to move up and down in pass ing over refuse on the street. Moreover, I desirably provide lost motion between each of the pivot pins 9 and one of the parts connected by the latter, so that the two bracket arms 8 can move somewhat independently of each other, thereby permitting the shaft 7 to tilt moreA or less transveiselyvof the the roll encounters valevel. I also desirably provide lateral guards in the form of a pair of side 'plates l1, each of which is pivoted upon the inner end ofthe hub of one of the brackets 8 and Leach of which has a portion ydisposed between the adjacent side plate l0 of theconveyer casing and one end of the roll, whereby the side plates are maintained in a substantially vertical position. The

bore entered by the inner end of the adjacent bracket arm 8 is so positioned in the side plate ll that the forward end of this side plate is continuously held clear of the ground, while the rear end may drag freely on the surface of the street. Thus arranged. the two side plates 1l form lateral guards for confining` the proected refuse laterally of the street, while the tube 5 of the roll forms a guard for preventing the projected refuse from being'projected hori'fzontally under the conveyer casing and also deilef-is some of the projected refuse upon the. conveyer, as shown by the arrow A, in Fig. l.. The roll therefore acts in a `general niannei similar to the dragging dirt pan formerly used for this purpose, but readily permits the machine tobe backed without jamming any part into the street and therefore without causing damage of any kind.

Moreover. when there are light and substantially flat objects on the surface of the street, such as papers or fallen leaves, the rolling progress of the roller will canse the latter to press the rear edges of such objects down when it first encounters theni, thereby preventing them from slipping and causing the roller to roll over them instead of sliding them ahead of this guard as has been found true with dirt pans of the drag-flap type. Then, as the roller is such fallen leaves or papers, it presses down the forward edges of the latter, and in doing so iiexcs these leaves so as to spread their rear edges apart upwardly. Consequently, these separated rear edges `are readilvcngag-ed by the broom in spite of the light weight of such leaves, so that with my arrangement the ordinary revolving brush or broom readily projects fallen leaves upon the conveyer.

To make the `guard or guide of my inven, tion still moie effective, I also desirably equip it with means tending to iiiove refiise longitudinally of the roll, and for this pin'- pose I preferably employ a steel ribbon l2 coiled in the form of a spiral about the tube 5 and secured to the latter, the direction ol' the spiral being` such that when the roll is rotated by contact with the surface of the street. the spiral will have a cani action tending to more objects towards the left of the machine, or away from the curb, since such machines are usually driven along the right-hand side of the street. In practice, this spiral. ribbon serves a double purpose, one being that of preventing' lumps of innd. clay or the like from being carried over the top of the roll by sticking to the latter and 'then being rotated as a cylinder between the roll and the rear end of the bottoni 4 of the conveyer. Such an action is effectively prevented by the ribbon, since the latter will move any adjacent matter towards one side of the machine and will therefore bunch it ,up .so that the refuse following it will read' passing beyond ily knock it loose and cause it to be projected either upon the top of the conveyer belt or at least into the path of the usual projections on this belt. i

The second` purpose accomplished by this spiral winding is that of removing unduly large and incompressible objects out. of the path. of the machine. llllhere such objects, as for example bricks have been left on the street, the ordinary drag flap would be raised by the same outof effect-ive position and might even be lifted into such forcible engagement with the broom as to cause damage to both parts.` lilith my spirally ribbed roll, a brick .13 encountered on the street will be engaged by an edge of the spiral ribbon after the manner .shown in `llfig. 3, and the cam action of this spiral will then slide the brick` to the left of the machine or entirely out of the path of both the roll and the broom, so vthat the presence of such objects on the street will not interfere in the least with the effective action of the machine. However, with `a` relatively` thinspiral ribbon, this cam action will not appreciably affect smaller articles of refuse on the street and hence will not interfere with the rolling of the guard over theV same. j

j However, while l have illustrated and described my invention in an embodiment in` cluding a hollow roll and includingv` a cern tain arrangement of the floating mounting forthis roll, ll do not wish to be limited to the details of the construction and arrange ment thus disclosed, it being obvious that the same might be modified in many ways without departing from the spirit of my invention or from the appended claims.

l claim as my invention:

l. ln a streep sweeper, a refuse lifting conveyer, a. rotating broom disposed for sweeping refuse off the street directly upon the conveyer, and a revoluble guard disposed between the bottom of the conveyer and the broom for preventing the proj ectingl of refuse under the bottoni of the conveyer by the` broom, the said guard being rotated by frictional engagement with the street.

2. In a street sweeper, a refuse lifting conveyer, a rotating broom, and a revoluble guard disposed between the bottom of the conveyer and the broom and continuously rolling upon the surface of the street, the guard having a substantially cylindrical peripheral surface adapted to deliect broom projected refuse towards the conveyer.

3. In a street sweeper, a refuse lifting conveyer belt, a casing housing the belt, a revoluble guard disposed between the broom and the bottom of the said casing, and means for freely journaling the guard while permitting the latter to roll on the surface of the street and to be revolved by contact with the latter.

a. In a street sweeper, a refuse lifting conveyer belt, a casing housing the belt, a revoluble guard disposed between the broom and the bottom of the said casing, and means for journaling the guard while permitting the latter to roll on the surface of the street and while permitting relative raising or conveyer mounted forwardly of the broom` and terminating above the surface of the street and disposed .in the direct path of refuse swept up by the broom, and means operatively closing the opening below the conveyer mechanism in front of the broom and formed for deflecting broom-projected refuse directly upon the conveyer, the said means comprising a revolubly mounted inember underhanging the broom and having its axis parallel to that of the broom.

7. In a street sweeper having a rotating broom disposed behind a conveyer mechamsm` which terminates at a distance above `thelevel of the street, common means for preventing the broom from projecting refuse through the gap below the said mechanism and for moving refuse transversely of the path of the sweeper.

8. In a street sweeper having a rotating broom disposed behind a conveyer mechanism which terminates at a distance above the level of the street, revoluble means for preventing the broom from projecting refuse through the gap below the` said mechanism and for movino' relatively large objects out of the path of tie broom.

9. In a street sweeper, a refuse lifting conveyer, a rotating broom, and a rovoluble guard disposed between the bottom of the conveyer and the] broom foripreventing the projecting of refuse under the bottom of the conveyer by the broom, and cam means upon the guard for moving refuse transversely of the path of the sweeper.

l0. lnv a street sweeper having a rotating broom disposed behind a conveyer mecha* nism which terminates at a distance above the level of the street, a loatingly mounted roller disposed for preventing the broom from projecting refuse through the gap below the said mechanism, and a spiral ribbing on the roller for moving relatively large objects longitudinally of the roller.

l1.- ln a street sweeper having a rotating broom disposed behind a conveyer which terminates at a distance abovetbe level of the street, common smooth-surfaced means ior deliecting directly upon the conveyer the reluse projected by the broom toward the gap below the said mechanism, and for flexing superposed leaves or the like to spread the rear edges thereof before they are engaged by the broom.

12. In a street sweeper having -a rotating broom disposed behind a conveyer mechanism which termina-tes at a distance above the level of the street, single float-ingly mounted revoluble means for guiding broom-projected refuse to the conveyer mechanism, the said means comprising a member having a general cylindrical contour and of suiciently small diameter to iler; superposed leaves or the like while rolling over the same so as to spread the rear edges of the leaves before they are engaged by the broom.

13. In a street sweeper having a rotating broom disposed behind a conveyer mechanism which terminates at a distance above the level of the street, lloatingly mounted means arranged both for guiding broomprojected refuse to the conveyer mechanism and for moving refuse transversely of the path of the sweeper.

14. In a street sweeper having sweeping means arranged for projecting refuse directly upon a conveyer terminating above the conveyer, roller means eiectively closing the space below the conveyer against the projecting oi refuse through the said space by the sweeping means and rotated by frictional engagement with the street surface, and side plates supported by the roller means for laterally confining the broom-projected refuse.

15. In a street sweeper having a conveyer mechanism housed by a casing having side plates, and having sweeping means ior projecting refuse towards the conveyer mechanism, rolling means effectively closing the space below the said casing against the projecting of refuse through the said space by the sweeping means; and side plates each supported at one end conjointly with the roller means and each dragging at its other end on the street, for laterally confining the projected refuse.

16. In a street sweeper having a conveyer mechanism housed by a casing having side plates, and having sweeping means for projecting refuse towards the conveyer mechanism, rolling means effectively closing the spa-ce below the said casing against the projecting oi refuse through the said space by the sweeping means; Aflanges on the roller means adjacent respectively to the side plates of the casing, and auxiliary side plates respectively disposed between the aforesaid side plates and the said anges for laterally conlining the projected refuse.

Signed at Elgin, Illinois, November 26th, 1920.

ELMER R. MARTIN. 

